The discussion below is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
Electronic tags may be used to track and trace objects by attaching such a tag to the object. Hereto the tag is typically fitted with location detection capabilities, e.g. using GPS or cellular localization. The tag may transmit the current location to an external server where the location information is stored and from where the current location (and possibly past locations) of the tag may be retrieved. A cellular communication module, such as a GPRS module, may be used for transmitting the location information to the server. Hereinafter such tags are also called “tracker tags”.
Electronic tags may be capable of receiving data from external data sources. This tag data may be stored in the tag for later reference. Hereinafter such tags are also called “data tags”. A data tag may be combined with a tracker tag to add tracking and tracing capabilities to the data tag.
An exemplary use case of data tags is in the field of bag tags. Bag tags, also known as baggage tags, baggage checks or luggage tickets, have traditionally been used by bus, train and airline companies to route passenger luggage that is checked in to the final destination. Prior to the 1990s, airline bag tags consisted of a paper tag attached with a string. The tag contained basic information that was written or printed on the paper tag, namely the airline/carrier name, flight number, a 5, 6 or 10 digit code and the name of the airport of arrival. These paper tags became obsolete as they offered little security and were easy to replicate.
Current bag tags typically include a barcode. These bag tags are printed using thermal or barcode printers that print on an adhesive paper stock. This printed strip is then attached to the luggage at check in. This allows for automated sorting of the bags to reduce the number of misrouted, misplaced or delayed bags. Automated sorting of baggage using laser scanner arrays, known as automatic tag readers, to read bar-coded bag tags is standard at major airports.
Around 1% of all baggage worldwide currently gets lost or mishandled each year. The cost to rectify this comes down to around 100 per bag with a total cost to the industry of around $2.6 bn, plus the airline may lose passengers to another competitor airline. Most baggage sortation and processing systems at airports worldwide are based on visual bag tag data and 1D barcodes printed on paper bag tags. The barcode scanners have to be “in line of sight” in order to be able to “read” the 1D barcodes and get them on the right “track” for it to be loaded on the correct baggage carts or ULD (Unit Loading Device) and onto the correct aircraft. An important reason why baggage gets lost is that the barcode on the bag tag is badly readable, e.g. due to damage to thermal printer heads or tears or folds in the bag tag. As a remedy, data tags in the form of electronic bag tags are being developed that include the barcode, or a representation thereof, as machine readable data.
An electronic bag tag may use radio frequency identification (RFID) technology for outputting the tag data. Such tags are typically implemented as high frequency (HF) or ultra-high frequency (UHF) RFID tags. The electronic bag tag may be a printed (typically disposable) paper bag tag with an RFID tag inside or a permanent (typically non-disposable) RFID bag tag. Radio frequency (RF) readers may be used to read the tag data, e.g. including the barcode, from the RFID bag tag and optionally write the tag data to the RFID bag tag. RF readers are typically used at a baggage drop-off point and during baggage handling at the airport.
Other communication techniques may be used for provisioning the tag data to the electronic tag, such as NFC, Low Energy Bluetooth or a mobile communication technique, such as GSM, GPRS, UMTS, CDMA, CDMA-2000, or LTE.
Another example of an electronic bag tag uses an electronic display for outputting the tag data in the form of a barcode (and possibly other information) as an alternative to having this information printed. As with RFID bag tags, the electronic tags with electronic display may be provisioned with tag data via any known communication technique. As the barcode is visibly displayed, the barcode may be read using traditional reading equipment for reading printed barcodes.
When used onboard of an aircraft, tracker tags and combined data and tracker tags face the problem that the cellular communication module, or at least the transmitter part thereof, is to be switched off during take-off. This is regulated by e.g. airplane safety regulations. One solution could be to include a manual switch to turn off the tag's cellular communication module, but this does not guarantee that the cellular communication module will be switched off as it may be forgotten.
Relying on sensor circuitry to deactivate the communication tag is error-prone, since the sensed parameters are typically influenced by circumstances external to the aircraft. For example, the amplitude of the signal is dependent on the propagation path(s) of the signal, sound may originate from sources outside of the aircraft and pressure depends e.g. on the altitude of the airport.
An airplane mode wireless identity transmitter device may be placed in luggage and periodically transmit short-range broadcast messages with an identity. When within proximity, a proximity broadcast receiver may receive and relay the broadcast signal to a server to determine proximity of the devices related to the relayed message. The transmitter devices may activate/deactivate an operation mode for use in an aircraft in response to receiving disable and enable wireless signals from signaling transmitters. After receiving a disable signal, the wireless identity transmitter may not transmit wireless signals until receiving an enable signal. The signaling transmitter may be arranged within an aircraft and transmit a disable signal on the basis of sensor data received from e.g. an accelerometer or altimeter that senses that the aircraft is taking off or has taken off.
This solution however requires a dedicated signaling transmitter to be arranged within the air craft that in itself transmits wireless signals that may interfere with aircraft electronics. Such transmitters are required to be certified which is a cumbersome process. Furthermore, relying on sensing parameters as a trigger to transmit the disable signal is not a reliable approach for deactivation of the transmitter.
There is a need for an improved electronic tag, and in a particular tracker tag and a combined data and tracker tag, configured to turn off the tag's communication module, or at least the transmitter part thereof, in a less complex and more reliable manner wherein compliance with e.g. airplane safety regulations is ensured.